Recommendation-Power Leveling Jacks

[derh2o]

I am thinking about installing automatic power leveling jacks for my 30' Class C. What brand do you recommend and what brand would you avoid? Thanks in advance for your thoughts.

[Jim_Shoe]

Even when I'm level or nearly so, I extend my jacks to keep the MH from rocking while I'm walking around inside. And when its raining when I'm setting up or leaving, they're worth every penny. I haven't crawled around in the mud on my hands and knees since I was a kid.

[wbwood]

We've had our class c almost a year and don't have jacks. It may be me (and maybe because we had a TT before this), but it's not worth the additional cost in thousands of dollars for it. We just use wood and the plastic blocks to level if needed. It's not hard to do it. And once you've done it a few times, you can kind of guess perfectly how much you need to level and where by looking at a bubble level. We use an 18" carpenters level that we place on the counter.

[derh2o]

thanks for all the feedback, but after researching some of the suggestions, I find the cost more than i want to spend. So I think I will stay with the "building blocks". We primarily stay in County or State Parks where leveling seems to always be a problem. We also like National parks, but since dogs are not allowed on trails, we don't go to them. Thanks again for the feedback and happy camping.

[Explorer1016]

My experience says to stay far far away from Power Gear. We have had problems with the system and my RV shop has found it incredibly hard to get answers for any trouble shooting. Power Gear has been a complete disruption in our work causing weeks of delays, giving wrong information through emails. They will NOT answer a telephone. They have been so difficult to deal with we almost spent the money to remove the entire system and install a different brand.

Thanks for asking and letting me share a bad experience to help a fellow RV'r avoid dealing with them. If someone here has a better experience I would love to know how they did it. After 8 months we still have issues with the system and no end in sight.

[maillemaker]

My 1990 Winnebago Warrior had aftermarket HWH leveling jacks installed by the original owners shortly after they bought it. I like them a lot.

Even when the ground is level enough to not require jacks, they stabilize the MH so that when you flip over in bed or otherwise move around the MH it doesn't jostle.

Mine are the flip-down type. Nice thing I see about that design is that you can (they say) drive off of them in an emergency if one got stuck.

[Jim_Shoe]

I have the HWH swing down jacks on mine. In some CGs that have gravel sites, I've had to move some of the gravel around so they can operate vertically, but its only happened a couple of times, and I carry a short handled garden hoe in my storage compartment for the job. Mine swing from horizontal to vertical before they start to extend. They won't even start to extend unless they're vertical first. Then you push the buttons to do the leveling.

[Dakzuki]

MarshaNichols wrote:
In 20+ camping sites, I've only needed to use levelers twice!

I have to level more often than not.

[homedad]

Had HWH on my 2000 Tioga 32. I loved them and hated them. When they worked they worked great. My problem was that on a concrete pad they were great. On dirt or gravel the front of the rv got so low that I would usually have to drive up on boards to allow for the swing. Sometimes one refused to swing vertical and I would have to retract all of them and pull it down manually then have someone push the button. I think that was probably age. I'd never buy without leveling jacks again, unless I had no slides.

[GrumpyandGrandm]

MarshaNichols wrote:
In 20+ camping sites I've only needed to use levelers twice!

In 13 years, I've needed them many many times, not only when we had the E-450 chassis, but with the SENECA as well.

Also, there are a lot of units where they come as an option or even standard from the factory

[MarshaNichols]

I have a 24' 2013 Born Free. When I bought it, I inquired about the jacks and the service manager said they didn't recommend them because of the added weight and added cost! In 20+ camping sites, I've only needed to use levelers twice!

[j-d]

Look for "Direct Acting" jacks in the BF or HWH brands. Both Class C's we've owned have HWH "Kick Down" jacks. These have to swing down to get into leveling position. That's been the worst feature (really the only bad feature) of those HWH systems. They'll often extend before reaching vertical. Also, since they have hinge pins to swing on, they aren't as steady as they would be without them and mounted solid to go straight down.
A little off topic, but our Front and Rear Hellwig heavy duty Sway Bars do more to keep the coach steady on the campsite than the jacks do. Of course the bars are no help in leveling.

[Dusty_R]

I would check my weight to be sure I had the room for adding the weight of them.

Dusty

[rvten]

HWH or Big Foot.

[GrumpyandGrandm]

I highly recommend "BIG FOOT" and by all means avoid Kwickee/Power Gear.